The Rudy Awards are named in honor of the irrepressible Rudolf Maschke, who, along with the redoubtable Edward Wagner, had the courage and vision to launch Photo Industry Reporter back in 1992. The awards are bestowed to products we judge to be ingenious, fascinating and a little off the beaten track—just like our illustrious cofounders. Here are our choices for 2006, in random order.

Pantone’s huey Color Management System
The small pen-like probe of Pantone’s huey can measure screen colors for screen calibration and room light to correct screen brightness and color. Priced at under $90, it is a quality-control breakthrough for photographers and labs.

Tele-Rolleiflex: Back to the Future Classic
Probably the last camera anybody expected to debut at PMA 2006 is the Tele-Rolleiflex. Now distributed by Direct Source Marketing in Japan, it is an updated version of the collectible classic twin-lens Tele-Rolleiflex of the 1960s, now fitted with a medium telephoto 135mm f/4.0 Schneider Tele-Xenar taking lens and 135mm f/4.0 Heidosmat viewing lens. Other features include a 1–1/500 sec. plus B Seiko leaf shutter, behind-the-viewing-lens SPD metering, crank wind, auto-parallax compensation, and, of course, a 2-1/4x2-1/4 format on 120 roll film. Like all current Rollei TLRs, it’s beautifully made in limited quantities and it’s expensive—price hasn’t been set, but we expect it to be in the $4–5K range. With its introduction, the venerable Rollei trio is again available in standard (80mm), wide (50mm) and tele (135mm) versions. Suddenly it’s 1962 all over again!

My Life Designs Jewelry: Fashionable Accessories
Photos become an integral part of jewelry designed and produced by My Life Designs. In these great photo gifts, photos are formed into miniatures that can decorate bracelets, watch bands and many other jewelry items. Visit www.mylifedesigns.com.

Davis & Sanford MiniPod9: Sticky Tabletop Tripod
Tabletop tripods are nothing new, but this cutie from Davis & Sanford has a fully articulated pan/tilt head complete with quick-release platform and bubble level, two-section, flip-lock legs with positive angle stops and rubber tips, and an adjustable, locking center post with—get this—a suction cup on the bottom for added stability on tilted surfaces! Its load capacity is three pounds, folded length is seven inches, maximum height is about nine inches in fully extended position, and it can be used as a chest pod. MSRP: $19.98 with carry pouch.

Sunpak DSU-01 Slave Trigger Adapter: Flashy Options
This useful little gadget mounts on the bottom of almost any shoe-mount flash unit, providing not only a white light slave trigger but one that’s adjustable so the flash will fire after it detects 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 pre-flashes from systems that use pre-flash bursts to calculate autofocus and exposure. Color-coded LEDs on the side of the unit make it easy to set it in dim light. Other features: Accepts mini-jack, PC cord, standard PC or standard flash foot with central contact, and is powered by two coin-type lithium cells. Price to be announced.

Olympus EVOLT E-330 DSLR with Live-View LCD
The Olympus EVOLT E-330 is the first “true” digital SLR—the first 21st century camera. Announced a couple of weeks before PMA 2006, it’s the first camera to combine the benefits of both kinds of viewfinding systems known to the digicam universe: reflex optical (or SLR) and electronic (EVF).

Both types of viewfinders have powerful advantages, but never before in one camera. This is not a technological breakthrough as such, so much as a brilliant adaptation of existing science. It results in a camera that is hugely more sophisticated and usable. By a hair, the EVOLT E-330 is selling in the under-$1,000 market.